Johannesburg – Power utility Eskom says it is working hard to restore electricity to the areas affected by Wednesday night’s rain and thunderstorm.
On Wednesday, the South African Weather Service said it was expecting rain for the Gauteng province from Wednesday afternoon, going into the weekend, with between 10 to 20mm expected.
Wednesday’s rain was Gauteng's first showers since the dry and cold winter season which has just passed.
South African Weather Service forecaster Mbavhi Maliage had said there was a 30% chance of rain and thunderstorms over Gauteng from Wednesday afternoon.
Eskom confirmed on Twitter that several areas, including some suburbs in Sandton, had suffered power outages due to the inclement weather.
“We are experiencing a lot of outages across Gauteng due to heavy storms last night.
“We are attending to these and ask for patience as we work on restoring supply to our customers,” the power utility said.
In a later tweet, Eskom said it has restored power to Morningside and Sandton areas, while other people on social media complained of power outages in areas such as Bram Fischer, near Soweto, Sebokeng and Laezonia.
The SA Weather Service warned Gauteng residents to expect rainy and cloudy conditions until at least Saturday.
“Tomorrow (Thursday) we are expecting 60% chance of rain and thundershowers from the morning. We are expecting the thunderstorms from this evening to continue into tomorrow morning with more thunderstorms and rain from 1pm,” Maliage said on Wednesday.
“Gauteng has not had a lot of rainfall since before the winter season, so this is a sign that the province is coming out of the season. This is good rain for the spring season.”
Maliage said the southern parts of Gauteng, from Soweto to the Vaal, could experience up to 20mm of rain this weekend.
IOL